Things you might want to know~

7 Mythical Creatures in Lakes and Rivers

7. Fossegrimen

This creature is very peculiar from the Scandinavian folklore. It looks like a handsome young man, completely nude and plays the fiddle under the waterfall. He doesn’t disturb people nor does he help people unless angered or asked.

He is a magnificent musician and would play his fiddle beautifully. His playing is so beautiful it moves and enchants people’s hearts may it be a happy or sad song. He gets angry or annoyed if people played bad music near him which would turn him into a terrifying monster instead.

Now because of his skills, there are stories of people asking him to teach them the fiddle and he would gladly teach them as long as they give him food especially meat. Apparently the quality of his teaching differs greatly depending on the food he is given. If the meal or meat is inadequate all he would teach is tuning or plucking.

6. Vodyanoy

A Slavic Mythological creature that is specifically male. They inhabits rivers, ponds and streams. It has a frog-like face with long greenish hair, a green beard that reaches its feet, round body which is usually covered in algae and his skin is covered in black fish scales. It is believed to be a water spirit and has a tendency to be evil.

Occasionally, the Vodyanoy are said to hide its self underwater totally submerged and has a beautiful flower right above it. The flower acts as a lure for people to come near and pick it. So when a person stepped in its range, it would drag that person into the water and 2 things could happen. The first one is death and the second one you are taken to its magical water kingdom and forced to either marry him or become his slave for life OR both.

Now when he’s not in a hunting mood, he is said to ride on a half-sunk log along his river making loud splashes without a care in the world.

5. Dobhar Chu

This creature inhabits the lakes of the British Isles. They resemble either an otter or a type of dogfish which is as big as a crocodile, give or take 7 feet long. They don’t hesitate in attacking humans and could run as fast as horses when they want to.

They are usually found in a group or at least in a pair and when they are chasing, they always form a tag team taking turns chasing until their prey is caught. When they feel threatened, they give off an eerie high pitched whistle or screech to warn their group.

This creature seems to be a cryptid but because there are no hard proof of its existence, they are a bit mythical just like the Loch Ness. Sightings have been reported as far back as 1684 but tales of the Dobhar Chu seems to have been around for much longer.

Now, they say that the Dobar Chu is extremely rare or maybe even extinct. But if there is a chance that they are alive, they should be found in Achill Island, west of County Mayo in a lake named Sraheens Lough.

4. Afanc

A lake monster from Welsh Mythology. They would prey at anyone who swims or fall into its lake. They are described to look like a crocodile or a beaver so we could assume its big, hairy with sharp teeth.

They are said to be able to cause flooding whenever it thrashes violently a bit like how the Namazu, which is a mythical giant catfish in Japanese folklore which can cause earthquake whenever it becomes restless.

There is one story of the Afanc about a maiden who managed to get the creature to sleep on her lap. So while it was sleeping, fellow villagers chained and bound the creature which probably woke it up and actually ended up killing the girl in the process when it was struggling to get free.

3. Bunyip

It is a large creature from the Australian Aboriginal mythology where their natural habitat are the billabongs, swamps and most fresh water sources of Australia. The stories of the Bunyip came from throughout Australia but with different names from different tribes and is known to be an evil spirit.

Even the Europeans that came in the early to mid 19th century has a few written accounts of the Bunyip. Though most try do try to rationalise it, saying it could be seals that stray inland. Which might be true because as we know today, seals have been found for even as far as 100 km away from the coast.

There are no consistent description on how the Bunyip looks like in folklore other than being big, scary and dangerous . So here are some of its description: it has a dog-like face, dark fur, flippers, horns or tusks and more. They would eat anything that comes near them or near the water’s edge, they would only appear at night and of course it has a blood curdling shriek.

So was it a cryptid, a spirit of the water or a stray seal? It sounds a bit like the Dobhar Chu to me but who knows?

2. Each Uisge

They are vicious creatures and it is better to stay away from them rather than being fascinated. They are exactly like the Kelpie as mentioned in my Scottish Mythological creature video in that they can shape-shift into either a handsome man or a beautiful horse or pony. What makes them different is not in their appearance but the way they eat you.

They live mostly in lochs or the sea inlets of Scotland and just like the kelpie, they would be so majestic, people just want to try and ride it. By then it would secrete an adhesive to make you stick on it with no chance of escaping then would drag you to the nearest body of water to drown you where you can try killing it, but since you would be bound by the adhesive, its almost impossible.

Now once you drown, it would proceed in tearing your limbs apart devouring everything except for your liver and some other internal organs which is left to float. As I said earlier they are vicious, so if they get impatient they would rather attack you straight on rather than seduce you. So stay away from strangers or horses or human-horse hybrids that you see alone near a body of water.

1. Abaia

From the Melanesian mythology, it is an eel like-like monster that lives in the bottom of freshwater lakes in the Fiji, Solomon and Vanuatu Islands. The Abaia seems to be the guardian of the lake and considers everything in the lake to be under its care. Thus, anyone that even attempts to harm or disturb the lake will be killed by it.

The Abaia kills by causing terrible rain storms that floods the village or area.

One of its stories goes like this, one day a man found a lake which has a lot of fish. He started fishing there and eventually caught a lot of fish from it. Little did he know that that lake was the home of the Abaia.

Happy, the man told his village of the bountiful lake. People went there the next day and started fishing. Apparently a woman managed to get hold of a huge eel but the eel escaped with its strength and size. That eel was Abaia himself.

So, Abaia got angry because his habitat has been disturbed and his underlings were caught. He retaliated by causing a great rain to fall that night causing waters from the lake to rise and flooded the village drowning everyone in it. The only one who survived to tell the tale was an old woman who didn’t take part in fishing nor ate anything from that lake.